Victoria Roquette Managing Director & Country Head, Distribution Solutions, Portugal

Regulatory changes have created challenges for managers, especially on the distribution front. Carne’s Portugal office is a key part of the solution, supporting Manco clients access investors.

Our Portugal MD Victoria Roquette explains how clients are seeking breadth of investor access and speed of solutions to grow AUM, and how the multinational nature of the Portugal office interacts with its local identity.

Distribution is a key focus for many asset managers. What are you hearing from clients as they look to grow and raise assets across Europe? 

Many managers are venturing into Europe for the first time. They want to expand their investor base, so they’re looking to set up Luxembourg/Irish vehicles, given that they are the domiciles of choice for European investors.

At Carne, we support managers from the moment they have an investment idea they wish to test in the market via our pre-marketing services, until they launch their fund and need to raise assets from investors. Helping managers understand the options available and navigate the complexities of Europe – essentially providing them with a road map – is a key part of our role at Carne.

Many managers don’t realise that the EEA, the UK and Switzerland operate under different laws and regulations, while others don’t appreciate the (overwhelming) level of requirements that come with marketing a fund in Europe.

Our strength is that we have the knowledge and the tools managers need to maximise their product’s success by giving them access to the right distribution channels in the relevant countries. We can register their funds for sale, provide regulatory cover to market the funds, ensure their documents are compliant, produce all the necessary investor reports, and facilitate their access to the relevant distribution network.

We can also help their sales teams with actionable insights telling them which types of investors – and in which countries – are buying which strategies.

How did you first get involved with Carne, and what’s kept you excited about working here?

It was a bit of a coincidence – I had just moved from London to Lisbon with my husband and received a message from John Donohoe (Carne’s founder and Group CEO) on LinkedIn. He said that Carne was setting up a MiFID firm in Lisbon to help managers distribute their funds across Europe, and they were looking for someone to join that adventure. The rest is history!

I have seen Carne evolve from a small and entrepreneurial company that felt like a start-up to the powerhouse it is today, being the largest third-party ManCo in Ireland and Luxembourg. The types of clients and the projects we undertake keep getting bigger. We are at a very interesting time in the company’s development and I’m excited to have been part of this journey for the better part of eight years.

What are the Portugal office’s main priorities right now, and what opportunities do you see ahead?

The Carne Portugal office focuses mostly on supporting our distribution offering: pre-marketing and marketing directly to professional investors in the EEA, hosting tied agents and supporting the distributor and platform connectivity.

Managing a fund’s distribution network is the theme that keeps coming back, especially with the retailisation of private markets and the need to access distributors who are the gatekeepers to these clients.

Dealing with many distributors can be a headache. Contractual agreements, AML/KYC and DD, ongoing oversight and trailer fee management are time-consuming tasks that many managers want to outsource to a third party like Carne. Carne can leverage existing relationships with platforms and distributors to easily add funds to its agreements in a time-effective manner. This speed to market is key for managers wanting to get subscriptions into their fund as fast as possible.

Carne Portugal has a very collaborative and international culture. We are a small office, but our team includes colleagues from Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, France and the UK, which brings a great mix of perspectives and makes for some very interesting conversations! This diversity helps us challenge ideas constructively and find better solutions for clients.

If you were taking out a client, what would be your top spots in Lisbon?

I’d probably start with drinks at a rooftop overlooking the gorgeous city of Lisbon – my favourites are Seen at the Tivoli Hotel and the Black Pavilion at the Torrel Palace. Then I’d take them to a modern Portuguese restaurant serving “petiscos”. My favourites are Bar Alimentar and Corrupio. For a long lunch on the water, I’d take them to Jose Avillez’s Mare in Cascais, on the coast just 30 minutes from Lisbon, which is simply stunning!

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